Oakland-San Francisco Attorney Comments on Another Toyota Recall

Toyota is recalling another 2.17 million vehicles to fix problems that could cause their accelerator pedals to become stuck, yet another setback in its efforts to gain ground from the bad press that surrounded them last year. Toyota initiated two new recalls covering about 769,000 sport utility vehicles and 20,000 Lexus sedans, and added almost 1.4 million more vehicles to its November 2009 recall related to what Toyota called “floor mat entrapment.” Since 2009, Toyota has recalled more than 14 million vehicles globally, a majority of which are connected to the floor-mat issue or a defect in the design of the accelerator pedal. The affected models are the 2004-6 Toyota highlander ;the 2004-7 Lexus RX; the 2006-7 Lexus GS; the 2003-9 Toyota 4Runner; the 2008-11 Lexus LX 570; and the 2006-10 Toyota Rav4.

According to The New York Times, Federal regulators said the announcement concluded their investigation into whether Toyota had recalled enough vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reviewed more than 400,000 pages of Toyota documents to determine whether the scope of it recalls for pedal entrapment was sufficient. After the review, Toyota was asked to recall the addition vehicles. The news came a few weeks after the agency concluded that it could not find flaws in the electronics system to explain reports of sudden acceleration, as some critics and lawyers suing the company have asserted. The safety agency forced Toyota to pay $48.8 million in three separate fines for waiting too long to announce the sudden-acceleration recalls and an unrelated 2005 recall. Each of the fines was the maximum allowed by law. Owners of recalled vehicles will receive notice both informing them of the problems and inviting them to have a dealer perform an inspection. Detailed information and answers to questions are available to consumers at www.toyota.com/recall or www.lexus.com/recall .
If you or a loved one suffered an injury due to the use of a defective product, or if you have questions regarding a potential claim, please contact our firm.